CORE

COMPETENCIES
H I L L A RY K E L L E Y

CORE COMPETENCY 1
Demonstrate Ethical and
Professional Behavior

BEHAVIOR 1.1
Make ethical decisions by applying the standards of the NASW
Code of Ethics, relevant laws and regulations, models for
ethical decision making, ethical conduct of research, and
additional codes of ethics as appropriate to context.
I have read over the NASW Code of Ethics as well as taken
out the time to understand the policies that UNCP Healthy
Start run under.

BEHAVIOR 1.2
Use reflection and self-regulation to manage personal values
and maintain professionalism in practice situations.
Taking notes of daily tasks to understand the growth of
knowledge I have received so far. Using Code of Ethics
and professionalism during home visits.

BEHAVIOR 1.3
Demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior; appearance;
and oral, written, and electronic communication.

Dressing appropriately everyday. Speaking with

professional language with clients and Healthy Start Staff.

BEHAVIOR 1.4
Use technology ethically and appropriately to facilitate
practice outcomes.
I researched heart health to create a newsletter that will
be sent out into the community as well as to the clients in
the program.

BEHAVIOR 1.5
Use supervision and consultation to guide professional
judgment and behavior.
After leaving every clients home, I discuss significant
parts of the assessment with the case manager to make
sure that I understand how certain things works.
Daily check-ins with supervisor as well as staying up to
date with events. Request feedback from supervisor as
well as Healthy Start Staff.

CORE COMPETENCY 2

Engage Diversity and

Difference in Practice

BEHAVIOR 2.6
Apply and communicate understanding of the importance of
diversity and difference in shaping life experiences in practice
at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.
One job task was to create a newsletter to be sent out into
the community. The purpose of this was to put the Healthy
Start program out so that people of all backgrounds could
consider this program as a resource.

BEHAVIOR 2.7
Present themselves as learners and engage clients and
constituencies as experts of their own experiences.
UNCP Healthy Start holds a mothers group called Legacy
in which mothers of the program share their experiences
with the staff and amongst each other. Advice is given
between both parties.

BEHAVIOR 2.8
Apply self-awareness and self-regulation to manage the
influence of personal biases and values in working with
diverse clients and constituencies.
Instead of making judgements, every time I interact with
clients, I try to sympathize with them. I do not try to use
statements like If I were you or I would do this

CORE COMPETENCY 3

Advance Human Rights

and Social, Economic, and
Environmental Justice

BEHAVIOR 3.9
Apply understanding of social, economic and
environmental justice to advocate for human rights at
the individual and system level.
I advocated for the rights of social workers workplace
challenges by sending an email to the representatives in
my area.
After meeting a client that lived in a motel, I understood
how difficult it is to receive assistance, even with needbased housing.

BEHAVIOR 3.10
Engage in practices that advance in social, economic
and environmental justice.
Sat in on an intake of a client who was Spanish speaking only.
She felt barricaded because of the language barrier, yet I
witnessed our staff translator put her at ease and let her
know that there are resources out there to help her.

CORE COMPETENCY 4

Engage In Practiceinformed Research and

Research-informed
Practice

BEHAVIOR 4.11
Use practice experience and theory to inform scientific
inquiry and research.
Creating informational surveys in order to best asses how
much access individuals in the community have to the
resources around them. It has been found that this is a
good way to see how clients view the opportunities that
surround them.

BEHAVIOR 4.12
Apply critical thinking to engage in analysis of
quantitative and qualitative research methods and
research findings.
Healthy Start encourages clients to read to their children
and the benefits of it. Clients are then given a survey to
determine the effectiveness of the encouragement.

BEHAVIOR 4.13
Use and translate research evidence to inform and
improve practice, policy, and service delivery.
Case managers and interns are consistently asking clients
and resources what can be done to better the organization
and effectiveness of what Healthy Start can do for them.
In a staff meeting, the director used survey findings to
express to staff that transportation was overpowering the
program and that new approaches should be made to better
manage the cases.

CORE COMPETENCY 5

Engage In Policy Practice

BEHAVIOR 5.14
Identify social policy at the local, state, and federal level
that impacts well-being, service delivery, and access to
social services
Talking with case managers about how government
policies affect how they proceed to do the work that they
have to do on a daily basis.

BEHAVIOR 5.15
Assess how social welfare and economic policies
impact the delivery of and access to social services.
Informing clients about the purpose of the transportation
that Healthy Start provides.
Letting them know that there are other options for modes
of transportation in Robeson County (SEATS)

BEHAVIOR 5.16
Apply critical thinking to analyze, formulate, and
advocate for policies that advance human rights and
social, economic, and environmental justice.
Conducting meetings with other Healthy Start
organizations in the area to learn how to best service the
clients that are within the confines of the program.

CORE COMPETENCY 6

Engage with Individuals,

Families, Groups,
Organizations, and
Communities

BEHAVIOR 6.17
Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social
environment, person-in-environment, and other
multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks to engage with
clients and constituencies.
Home visits to perform intakes and seeing the clients
environment. Talking with them about what resources they
have available. Seeing how they function as person in
environment.

BEHAVIOR 6.18
Use empathy, reflection, and interpersonal skills to
effectively engage diverse clients and constituencies.
When talking to a client, I try to use person in
environment to se why they behave the way that they
do.

CORE COMPETENCY 7

Assess Individuals,
Families, Groups,
Organizations, and
Communities

BEHAVIOR 7.19
Collect and organize data, and apply critical thinking to
interpret information from clients and constituencies.
Intakes with clients
Interpreting the things that the clients say and do not say

BEHAVIOR 7.20
Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social
environment, person-in-environment, and other
multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in interventions
with clients and constituencies.
Understanding why a mother stays in a domestic violence
relationship because it is her environment and what she is
used to.
Using strengths perspective to ensure that a client feels
empowered about their goals.

BEHAVIOR 7.21
Develop mutually agreed-on intervention goals and
objectives based on the critical assessment of
strengths, needs, and challenges within clients and
constituencies;
Completing the CARE assessment with clients to
document goals. Note in the comments about what
limitations they may have.

BEHAVIOR 7.22
Select appropriate intervention strategies based on the
assessment, research knowledge, and values and
preferences of clients and constituencies.
While doing the assessment, talk with client about the
different goal options that they have and how Healthy
Start can help them with that. Ensure that the goals are
what the client wants, not what the worker wants.

CORE COMPETENCY 8

Intervene with Individuals,

Families, Groups,
Organizations, and
Communities

BEHAVIOR 8.23
Critically choose and implement interventions to
achieve practice goals and enhance capacities of clients
and constituencies.
Completing the CARE assessment with clients to
document goals. Note in the comments about what
limitations they may have.

BEHAVIOR 8.24
Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social
environment, person-in-environment, and other
multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in interventions
with clients and constituencies.
Completing the CARE assessment with clients to
document goals. Note in the comments about what
limitations they may have.
Talking with client about attachment theory and how it is
best to bond with baby.

BEHAVIOR 8.25
Use inter-professional collaboration as appropriate to
achieve beneficial practice outcomes.
Working alongside case managers as well as director to do
whats best for the client.

BEHAVIOR 8.26
Negotiate, mediate, and advocate with and on behalf of
diverse clients and constituencies.
Attending an intake with the case manager and the
translator in Hispanic homes.

BEHAVIOR 8.27
Facilitate effective transitions and endings that advance
mutually agreed-on goals.
Closing out cases of mothers whos children have aged
out but making sure they have goals in mind and
confident about their decisions.

CORE COMPETENCY 9

Evaluate Practice with

Individuals, Families,
Groups, Organizations,
and Communities

BEHAVIOR 9.28
Select and use appropriate methods for evaluation of
outcomes.
Client needed car seat for her newborn baby. In order to
receive one, she had to attend car seat training. Upon
completion of car seat training, we awarded her of a car
seat so that her child would be safe. That was one of her
short term goals.
Training was successful so we held it again during the last
week of March.

BEHAVIOR 9.29
Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social
environment, person-in-environment, and other
multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in the
evaluation of outcomes.
Completing the CARE assessment with clients to
document goals. Note in the comments about what
limitations they may have.
Understanding that sometimes unless a person is
removed from their surroundings, a successful outcome
may never be reached.

BEHAVIOR 9.30
Critically analyze, monitor, and evaluate intervention
and program processes and outcomes.
Using clients folder to document progress during the
different implementations of interventions.

BEHAVIOR 9.31
Apply evaluation findings to improve practice
effectiveness at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.
Giving suggestions to case managers about how to help a
client that I can relate to.
Suggestions to implement more mommy/child activities in
the future